


Vengance is Red

by CaffeineDream



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: F/F, Identity Reveal, Red Kryptonite, Red Kryptonite Kara Danvers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-26
Updated: 2018-10-24
Packaged: 2018-11-05 01:20:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 15,317
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11003007
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaffeineDream/pseuds/CaffeineDream
Summary: Normally Kara would have been banishing the thoughts going through her mind about Lena and have torn her eyes away. She would have blushed and fiddled with her glasses. But the red kryptonite had her eyes roaming over Lena instead. As angry as she was with Lena for creating technology that could make life harder for aliens just trying to live their lives Kara still had eyes and a different part of her infected brain was starting to take over.Or Kara is infected with red kryptonite for the second time and this time she's on a mission for revenge against her attacker.Set in late season 2.





	1. Day 1

**Author's Note:**

> This started as me wanting to write red kryptonite infected Supergirl and turned into something with a plot. I hope you enjoy it!

**Day 1**

_**Monday morning, 7:45 A.M.** _

A man was walking down the street opposite Kara Danvers apartment. He held a coffee in one hand and had a work bag slung over his shoulder like many other people around him leaving their homes to go to work for the day. His bag, however, didn’t hold a laptop of files like most others. Stowed inside was a lead lined box containing red kryptonite. 

Across the street, Kara Danvers had just walked out of her apartment building and turned to walk up the street heading for the CatCo World Media office. 

“Status report.” A voice sounded from the Bluetooth device in his ear.

“I see her now.” He spoke calmly and he began to tail Kara, following her to the office. 

“Good. You know what to do.” 

The man sped up until he was only a few steps behind Kara and then reached into the bag. All he needed was for her to be in the proximity of the red kryptonite for a few moments and his mission would be complete. He opened the latch on the lead box and held the red kryptonite in his hand, still in the bag for a count of 10. He followed Kara staying blended in a busy crowd of pedestrians on the street. Ahead of him Kara seemed to pause for a moment and looked around as though she had heard something. That was all the confirmation he needed that the Kryptonian had felt the substance’s effects. He dropped the red kryptonite back into the box and closed to shut, to avoid the DEO picking up the signal. He then turned down the street and disappeared onto the nearest bus. 

“It's done,” He spoke once he had stepped off the bus. “I’m on my way back now.”

Kara rode the elevator up to her office. She was feeling annoyed that morning, and the ride felt longer than it should have been and the elevator felt far too packed.

Once it hit her floor she stepped off quickly and walked to her desk. She had just reached it when Snapper Carr walked over. 

“Danvers. L-Corp just announced a press conference for the release of new technology. 1 pm, this afternoon, at the head office. I want you covering it.”

“What’s the tech?”

“Some kind of security device for stopping mind reading aliens from being able to steal secrets.”

Kara stiffened. “And why is that necessary?” 

Snapper grumbled at her.

“Three weeks ago one of your co-workers wrote an article about how Lord Tech had information stolen from them. They figured it out when some of their technology that was still in R&D was found on the streets in the hands of an alien. He had made a prototype of a weapon Lord tech had been developing on contract for the military based on stolen information. The police and company investigation revealed that an alien with mind reading abilities had been planted in the company to steal corporate secrets. That alien got away so no one knows who he was working for. L-Corp seems to think that this has created a demand in the market for security protection against such attacks. Figure out the angle Danvers. Is this tech just another piece of security for organizations, or is this Luthor showing her anti-alien colours.”

With that Snapper turned and went back to his office. 

Kara went right to her computer, pulling up her co-worker's article and digging into as much about the case as she could find before the conference. 

**1pm**

Lena stood at a small podium in the lobby of L-Corp looking out at the gathering of reporters, board members and a few key shareholders before her. Next to her on the small stage sat a small box no larger than a radio with antennas and only a digital keypad on the exterior. It was her company’s latest creation. Taking a breath she addressed the crowd.

“Thank you all for joining me here today.” The crowd’s chatter fell to silence and the reporters clicked on their audio devices. In the crowd, Lena spotted Kara watching her. 

“As you know 3 weeks ago Lord Tech experienced a breach in security. The breach was a mind-reading alien who had gained access to the company and stolen Lord company technology right from the minds of its employees. In light of these events, we recognise that mind readers present a new threat to information security and privacy. Organizations have a right to protect their information.”

In the back shareholders were muttering in agreement. Lena continued.

“L-Corp has designed a security device to protect against mind readers. The MindSafe emits sound frequencies that block mind-reading aliens’ psychic abilities. It can cover an area of 1 acre, more than enough for an office tower and larger facilities can protect themselves through strategic placement of multiple units. The unit is small and can be placed securely in the building’s infrastructure and it is protected by a shell to avoid damage or vandalism.”

She looked out at the small sea of reporters all furiously scribbling notes.

“MindSafe will be ready to ship to our customers within two weeks. I will now take questions from the press.” 

The journalists all raised their hands and began to call out her name. She pointed to an old man in the front. He stood

“Ms Luthor, Jim Forest from National City Daily, will these units be available in stores and what will be the price of a unit?”

“L-Corp plans to sell directly to other organizations for the launch though we hope to make the product commercially available to the public in the future. As of right now, a unit costs $2,800. It is not designed as a household item, but as a security system for companies and as such is very sophisticated. Simpler units will be available to the public commercially in the future at a lower price.”

Lena scanned the crowd and her eyes landed on Kara who had her caught in an intense gaze. Lena nodded to take her question.

“Kara Danvers, CatCo Media. Ms. Luthor why do you foresee citizens needing this device?” Kara’s eyes seemed hard.

“As mind readers become a part of our population people will want to protect their privacy from this new kind of threat. MindSafe is no different than encrypting data to protect against hackers”

Kara cut in before Lena could select another journalist to ask a question “Ms. Luthor as you suggesting that all mind readers are a threat?”

It wasn’t the most professional question, and Kara would never have put Lena in that situation. Kara would have asked Lena about it later or tried to understand her point of view as a business woman. But Kara exposed to red kryptonite saw Lena as getting dangerously close to painting aliens with mind reading abilities as potential terrorists. It wasn’t even that far of a leap.

Lena fixed her eyes back on Kara somewhat taken aback by her question. 

“No. Just as not everyone with the ability to hack a computer does not steal information I do not believe that all mind readers are attempting to steal our thoughts. But we still protect ourselves against hackers and this device allows for companies to protect against potential psychic attacks which we have seen are now a real threat.” 

Kara fumed but kept her mouth shut as Lena moved to take other questions. Jotting down some notes she turned and left the crowd. 

She should have gone back to CatCo to write her article. But impulse took control of her and instead she found herself walking to the elevator and riding it all the way to the top of L-Corp.

Luckily Lena had been too busy taking questions to see her departure. Lena’s secretary was downstairs with her and so Kara let herself into Lena’s office and sat down on her couch to wait. 

10 minutes later Lena had called an end to the press conference and gone back to her office to find Kara waiting for her.

“Kara.” Lena was surprised, “Are you here to ask me more difficult questions?” Her tone was teasing. 

“You know I called an end to the press conference and I’m afraid I can’t give you an exclusive.”

Lena walked through the office and set down the MindSafe on the coffee table and moved part Kara to her desk. 

Kara crossed her legs and gazed at Lena haughtily, “I’ll ask you off the record then, why have you made another device that is against aliens?”

Lena glanced at Kara cautiously still moving around her desk, 

“Kara, this isn’t against aliens, I told you it’s a security measure. You heard about how Lord tech was stolen from.”

Kara’s eyes followed Lena around the room. She had worn a black skirt with a red blouse and blazer for the press release and Lena had just removed the blazer hanging it from the back of her office chair. Kara’s eyes had grown darker as she appraised Lena in her fitted skirt and blouse.

Normally Kara would have been banishing the thoughts going through her mind about Lena and have torn her eyes away. She would have blushed and fiddled with her glasses. But the red kryptonite had her eyes roaming over Lena instead. As angry as she was with Lena for creating technology that could make life harder for aliens just trying to live their lives Kara still had eyes and a different part of her infected brain was starting to take over. 

Lena finally stopped moving around and came to sit next to Kara. Leaning against the couch she looked to Kara and spoke gently.

“Kara, you know I support aliens living in National City. And I know that you are friends with Supergirl so you might see this as something that is against her. But this isn’t against aliens, I promise.”

Lena studied Kara’s face and felt a little better when she no longer saw any hostility there.

“Besides,” she smiled “you and I would both be very disappointed if aliens left National City. Whatever would I do next time I was in trouble and Supergirl wasn’t around to save me?” Lena was teasing her and lightening the mood but Kara wanted to hear Lena talk about Supergirl more.

“Yes, Supergirl has saved you a few times now hasn’t she.”

“She has,” Lena looked off into the distance, a small smile on her face. “And I almost wish I would get in trouble again just so she would show up.”

“oh?” Kara was loving where this was going.

“Has Supergirl ever flown you anywhere?” Lena asked.

Kara decided to simply shake her head and play along.

“She caught me when I was thrown off my balcony, and let me tell you I’ve never met a woman with arms like that.” Lena’s voice had gotten lower and she was looking very excited thinking about Supergirl’s arms. 

This was certainly stroking Kara’s ego and when Lena had lowered her voice the sound had done things to Kara making her gaze more intently at Lena.

Lena was enjoying spilling her secret crush on Supergirl to Kara, who Lena also privately crushed on but in a different way. Kara was sweet and innocent in a way that Lena loved but Supergirl had a little bit of mystery, a lot of power and her red skirt and arms were certain to be Lena’s undoing. 

Lena was biting her lip and Kara was moments from leaning forward and doing something that would ruin their friendship. Lena pulled herself out of her Supergirl daydream and looked at her watch.

“Kara I need to get back to work, but I’d love to see you this week. How does lunch sound? Thursday, my treat?”

Kara felt disappointment as Lena stood up and she reluctantly followed suit. Luckily her ego had been stroked and the promise of seeing Lena again pacified her red kryptonite-fueled thoughts.

Kara leant over to hug Lena like she always does to say goodbye, but this time she swiftly kissed Lena’s cheek as she did. She pulled back to observe Lena’s slightly surprised, though not at all unhappy expression and her lipstick on Lena’s cheek. 

“It’s a date.” She grinned at Lena and even winked at her as she turned to leave.

Once Kara had left the office Lena sat in her office chair and touched her cheek where Kara had kissed her. Slightly miffed she couldn’t help she small blush that formed and she felt her skin tingle where Kara had kissed her. 

**9pm**

Supergirl landed at the DEO headquarters. “Any ass for me to kick tonight?”

Alex’s eyebrows raised at Kara’s swearing but didn’t comment.

Winn spun around in his chair to face Kara “You’ve got great timing, there’s an alien in the downtown trying to rob a store.”

“Easy peasy,” Kara smirked, spun and took off.

Moments later she was at the scene of the crime. Winn hacked the store's security camera so that he and Alex could watch her progress. The alien was strong, he seemed to be built like a tank but it should be an easy fight for Supergirl. As Winn and Alex watched on the monitors Supergirl didn’t just punch the alien out and tie him up for the DEO, instead she started to toy with him. Trying to make him fight back. The brutish alien would stumble towards her, roaring and she would use her super speed to dodge and let the alien crash around the store. 

Alex grabbed the mic for Supergirl’s headset. “Supergirl, what are you doing?”

“I’m just teaching this guy some manners.” Her voice was cocky and she continued to dodge the charging alien. 

“Supergirl that’s enough. End this now.”

On the screen Kara grinned wickedly, “Whatever you say, boss.”

Winn and Alex watched as Supergirl grabbed the alien and threw him through the nearest building. The alien survived but was unconscious and Supergirl simply stepped over his limp body and took off. 

Winn turned to Alex “That was…”

“Yea”

Alex’s face was creased with worry. 

“Why would she…?”

“Winn… can you track down Maxwell Lord? I need to ask him exactly what was stolen from him three weeks ago.”

Winn’s eyes went wide as he caught on to Alex’s line of thinking. 

“You don’t think the design for red kryptonite was stolen from him too?”

Alex looked worriedly at Winn “Have you ever seen her act like that before without Red Kryptonite?”

Winn shook his head and started typing on his computer searching for Maxwell Lord.

“I’m going to get J'onn. We might have a serious problem on our hands.”


	2. Day 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To say that I had writer's block with this feels like a huge understatement. Please forgive me for taking so long!

_**Tuesday 8:30 am. L-Corp** _

 

The morning sun streamed through the large windows of Lena’s office. The young CEO sat at her desk looking at the day’s schedule noting her first meeting a little later in the morning and planning who to call and what projects to review. As she opened her emails the television screen on the side wall of her office caught her attention. The morning news was being interrupted by a warning the public that Supergirl had violently thrown an alien through an apartment building in the downtown last night. The behaviour was strange because Supergirl never put citizens in danger during her fights but this one had been reckless and eight people who had been in the building at the time had to be rescued by the fire department. Supergirl had also done a great deal of unnecessary damage to the surrounding street. Video footage from the store’s security camera played in the top corner of the screen and Supergirl was clearly toying with the enraged alien. Later that night the hero had responded to a car crash on the highway. Two semi-trucks had collided and the engine of one truck had caught fire. 

The news switched to an interview clip with one of the truck drivers from the accident.

“I was driving, I had been driving all day. I took the corner too wide and hit the oncoming truck. Supergirl showed up and pulled me and the other guy out. I asked her if she could put out the fire that had started in the truck’s engine… and she…” the man was rubbing his bald head, incredulous and still shaken, “she went and picked up my truck and threw it down into the ocean. She said ‘that should put it out’ and then she just left.”

The broadcast cut back to the morning news anchors who were reporting that there was a record breaking number of alien attacks in the city last night, 9 in total, all of which Supergirl had responded to and handled using the same brazen attitude she had shown the truck driver. The crimes ranged from assault to a hostage situation. 

The news anchors then started discussing the possible reasons as to why Supergirl’s latest “heroics” had been so unruly and out of character and why was there so much criminal activity last night.

Having been personally saved by Supergirl on a number of occasions Lena felt defensive of Supergirl yet the security footage on the screen and recounts of eye witnesses from the crash made Lena uneasy. Something was definitely off about Supergirl’s behaviour. 

She turned back to her computer screen and sighed. It was almost time to meet with her board of directors and they always had a lot of opinions for her to respond to. No doubt they would have some ideas about what to do now that L-Corp had stirred up the media with their announcement of the MindSafe device. 

_**10 am** _

 

Lena had been correct in her assumption that the board would have some ideas about what to do to put L-Corp back in a more flattering light. The National City Art Museum was hosting a charity auction that night. The theme was aliens and the proceeds of the auction would go to helping organizations that help to settle alien refugees. Her board and her PR department both thought it was an excellent idea for Lena to attend and for L-Corp to purchase some art for the cause. It would help to reaffirm to people to L-Corp supports aliens and settle the media’s speculation of whether the MindSafe device was L-Corp coming out as anti-alien. Lena had to agree that it was a fortuitous opportunity for some positive press for the company. A few art purchases in the name of charity was certainly a small price to pay. 

Lena, however, would rather not spend the night mingling with National City’s wealthy philanthropists making polite conversation while dodging politics. Though, maybe, the evening didn’t have to be terrible. She could always invite along her favourite reporter to be her date. She would tell Kara it would make for a good fluff piece for CatCo magazine and Lena would have someone to help her navigate the evening’s conversations. Kara was always on her side and it would be nice to have her there. 

Lena picked up her phone and dialled Kara’s number. I rang twice until Kara answered.

“Lena,”

“Kara, I’m sorry to bother you but I was wondering if you had any plans for tonight.”

On the other end of the line, Kara thought about the question. Kara had planned to continue hunting down the aliens who had been attacking the city. However last night she had clashed with the DEO. They thought the way she had handled the situations were out of line and the night had ended with her tossing her earpiece after the first few fights so that she didn’t have to hear their orders to stand down. She didn’t like the idea of going back there and getting a lecture. Kara made up her mind, the DEO could make do without her tonight.

“No, no plans for tonight.”

“There’s a charity auction tonight at the National City Museum, I’m going for a little positive publicity for L-Corp and I was thinking you should come. It would make a good fluff piece for CatCo…. Plus it would mean a lot to me if you came with me.” She left the rest unsaid, about how she wanted Kara’s support and someone there to be on her side. 

A charity auction. Not the most fun thing Kara could think of but these big buck events usually were a good spot to scope out the gossip for leads on news pieces.

“And what should I wear for such an occasion?”

“Something elegant.” Lena paused, not wanting to sound desperate. 

"So you’ll come?”

Unseen to Lena, Kara was gazing out her window with a smirk already thinking about the dress she would wear. She’d show Lena elegant and then some. This event could be fun.

“Anything for you.”

Something about the way Kara spoke sent shivers down Lena’s spine but she quickly regained her composure. 

“Great, its at 8 o’clock, I’ll send a company car to your place to get you.”

“See you tonight.”

Kara hung up. Thinking about the auction and the impression she wanted to make had the Red K starting to cause a spike in her vanity. Consciously she didn’t know where it was coming from but she was determined to get Lena’s attention that night. 

_**8 pm – National City Museum** _

Lena had stepped out of her car a just a few minutes ago and was stuck just outside the front door chatting with a wealthy lawyer. The man’s intentions seemed to be mostly pure interest however he was pestering her with questions about the legality of blocking alien powers with her new device and what kind of legal action companies could take if their secrets had been stolen by alien mind readers or through similar methods. 

As a result, Lena was present when Kara arrived in the chauffeured car Lena had sent for her and she felt her mouth go dry as she watched Kara step out.

Lena watched as Kara stepped out of the car rose to her full height in a floor length dress that was such a dark blue it was almost black. Lena had stopped hearing anything the lawyer was saying to her as Kara walked towards her she noticed the dress had a thigh-high slit revealing more than a little of Kara’s long leg. Her high heels only accentuated her legs even more and her hair was done up in an elegant braid at the back of her head. 

“Kara, you look amazing.” 

“Yes, you look beautiful,” the lawyer had turned to greet Kara and he was wearing a huge smile as he offered her his hand to shake. 

“I don’t believe we’ve met. Jordan Patterson.”

Kara took his hand and returned his greeting “Kara Danvers.”

“What is it that you do, Kara?” 

He was trying to start a conversation with her and the way he was beaming at her it wasn’t just out of politeness. He was handsome and seemed nice so Lena couldn’t blame Kara if she wanted to entertain his conversation. Kara’s answer, however, was short and to the point.

“I’m a reporter.” Kara reached over and pulled Lena’s arm through hers, “Now Jordan, do you always keep ladies waiting outside or are you going to let us in?” Her tone was playful enough but there was something under it that Lena couldn’t place. Throughout their conversation other guests had been streaming past them through the doors going into the museum. 

Jordan took the comment good-naturedly and jumped out of their way giving a little bow and holding out his arm gesturing towards the doors. 

“My apologies ladies, please, after you.”

With Lena’s arm through hers, Kara guided Lena forward and into the museum which was already beginning to look rather full. 

They made their way to the side of the room and began following the flow of people admiring the artwork as they mingled with their drinks. 

“What do you think Ms Luthor, elegant enough?”

Kara had heard Lena’s heartbeat pick up when she had stepped out of the car and it had only continued to pick up speed when she had taken her arm. 

“You look gorgeous Kara,” Lena flushed a little. 

She grabbed a couple of wine glasses from a passing server and handed one to Kara. Lena then turned her eyes to the photograph they were standing in front of. At first, it seemed like a normal picture of a busy street corner in National City. But the longer Lena looked at the photo the more she saw. Dotted in the crowd were aliens, blending in yet still present. One woman’s skin was just a little too red to be human, a man in a suite had dark markings on his neck just barely visible under the collar of his shirt. Yet despite the small abnormalities, the whole scene looked typical. 

“I like this one.” Lena announced, “Aliens and humans getting along, going about their day. Plus I believe that street corner isn’t far from my office.”

“It’s the first one you’ve seen, let’s look at some more.”

Kara and Lena start moving around the room once again. For every couple of art pieces that they look at Lena runs into at least one person that she shakes hands with and exchanges pleasantries. 

The pair stop in front of another photograph, this one shows Supergirl hovering with National City’s skyline just below her feet. It’s shot from the side, part of her face visible as she looks down on the city, vigilant. Kara can feel herself smirking as she’s aware of Lena gazing at the photograph.

“You know,” Kara said, her tone playful, “I think Supergirl likes you too.”

“What? No, she … she hardly knows me.”

Kara shrugged. “She knows you’re a good person. She’s seen that you’re smart and brave. You saved all of the aliens in National City from Cadmus.”

“I was just doing what was right.”

Lena looked back to the picture and made up her mind. They had been there for over almost two hours admiring the art and chatting with the other attendees. Besides, Lena had lost track of how many glasses of wine she had gone through and it was time to call it a night.

“I think I’ve spent enough time in the public eye for tonight. I’ll put in a bid on this Supergirl photo and the first one we saw.”

“And where will you put your picture of your crush?”

Lena playfully batted at her arm. “Behave yourself! I should never have told you about how she caught me.”

The pair went to put in Lena’s bids. Halfway towards the door someone called Lena’s name.

When she turned she saw the vice president of a rival company walking towards them. The woman was in her late 40s and her expression always reminded Lena of a fox about to eat its dinner.

“Ms Luthor I didn’t think you or your company were pro-alien anymore.” The woman’s voice was cruel.

“As I told the press my invention is not intended to harm aliens and L-Corp continues to take a supportive stance towards resettling alien refugees in National City.”

“Oh, it’s just that with the company’s history as Luthor Corp I was wondering if you were perhaps a little more like your brother than everyone thought.”

Kara’s temper flared and while Lena and the woman were staring each other down red veins briefly glowed across Kara’s face. No one talked to Lena like that. 

“I don’t know who you are but if you knew Lena you would know that she has worked hard to change her company. The only way that she is anything like her brother is that she is brilliant. The similarities end there. How dare you even suggest that she is like Lex or question her morals.”

To her credit, the VP stood her ground as Kara rounded on her for insulting Lena.

“Your friend is very outspoken.” Her comment was dry and with that, she seemed to decide she had nothing more to say and turned to speak with another group of people nearby. 

Kara was ready to start a fight with the woman but Lena gently took her hand. 

“My driver is out front, let’s go.”

Lena led Kara out to the waiting car.

“Can I give you a ride home?”

“Yes, thank you.”

They climbed into the back seat and told the driver Kara’s address. Only once the car was moving did Lena speak.

“Thank you… for sticking up for me.” 

“It’s not fair how people treat you.”

“Maybe. They have some right to be suspicious. But that woman has always been particularly nasty to me.”

“I’ll always stand up for you.” 

Lena placed her hand over Kara’s on the seat between them, “I know you will.”

Lena was looking right into Kara’s eyes and Kara could feel her heart rate increasing. Kara’s eyes flicked to Lena’s lips and she caught the small blush that formed on her cheeks and the way that her lips parted.

The temptation Kara felt was fueled by the Red Kryptonite. All it took was for something to trigger her emotions and the Red K carried them through. Right now all she could think about was how it would feel to lean across the seat and capture Lena’s red lips with hers. 

It was obvious that Lena also felt the way that the air between them was supercharged. In this close proximity, Kara could sense Lena’s reactions to her movement. Kara shifted in her seat slowly crossing one leg over the other. Out of the corner of her eye, she watched as Lena’s eyes were momentarily drawn to her leg that was now exposed thanks to the cut of her dress. 

“None of them have anything on you, Lena. You’re the most amazing person I’ve ever met.”

“Thank you, Kara. I don’t know what I would do without you.”

Kara pressed on, determined to banish the dejection Lena was feeling. “Lena you could own this city if you wanted to. You’re better than all of them.”

“You know I don’t want that. I just want to do good… to help people. To prove to everyone and myself that the name Luthor doesn’t have to be evil.” Downcast she was looking at her hands as she spoke.

“You’ve already convinced me,” Kara whispered the words. To see Lena struggle with her doubts and the uphill climb that was saving her family name and company filled Kara with the urge to make Lena see herself as Kara saw her. The way the rest of the world should see her. 

She wanted to show Lena just how much she meant to her.

Kara reached over and gently lifted Lena’s chin so she was looking at her, she spoke with conviction, “You are more than your name.”

Whenever Lena thought about her family and the way the world and the media tried to portray her it always hurt. Maybe it was the wine or maybe it was that she felt like she could be vulnerable with Kara, either way, she felt tears prickling at the back of her eyes. Never in her life had someone shown her unconditional support and praise that Kara offered. Lena could hear the passion in intensity in Kara’s voice and she knew that she meant every word.

“You are smart and kind. You are strong….” Kara moved her hand from Lena’s chin threading into her fingers into her hair pulling Lena’s face closer to hers. Kara kissed her once and drew back slightly. Her eyes still closed she breathed against Lena’s lips her voice barely a whisper “You’re beautiful.” 

Kara kissed Lena again and she reacted parting her lips to allow Kara to deepen the kiss. Red veins glowed faintly across Kara’s skin unseen to Lena whose eyes were closed. 

Though Lena was surprised at Kara’s sudden boldness to say that she hadn’t thought about what Kara’s lips would taste like would be a lie. Sweet, caring, loveable Kara. How could Lena not want more of her in her life? So when Kara offered her support and when she kissed her Lena moved with her leaning into the kiss searching for more. 

The two broke apart as the car rolled to a stop along the curb just outside Kara’s apartment. Hearts racing they took a moment to just breath a let their minds catch up on what had just happened. 

“Kara,” Lena spoke softly, still slightly dazed.

Kara was loving the effect she was having and leaving Lena wanting for more was a power trip for her. She brushed her thumb just under Lena’s lip fixing the smudged lipstick. She softly kissed Lena’s cheek and then moved to get out of the car. 

“Thanks for the evening. Goodnight Lena.” She gave Lena a quick wink and with that she shut the door and walked to her apartment, confidence rolling off of her in waves. 

Lena’s driver pulled away from the curb and set off towards Lena’s apartment. As they drove away Kara’s superhearing picked of the soft “Holy fuck” Lena let out as she drove away.

Smirking to herself Kara let herself into her apartment and went to bed feeling like she was on top of the world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thoughts? I'm still a little new to this so feedback is totally appreciated! I hope you like it so far.


	3. Day 3

_**Wednesday 9:00 am - CatCo Magazine** _

 

Kara strode into work like she owned the place. Last night had been good, blowing off the DEO had felt good, seeing Lena’s eyes on her last night had felt good and kissing Lena in the back of the car had felt good. 

As a result, it was only mildly irksome when Snapper grumbled at her to come into his office as he passed her desk. 

“Danvers.” He looked uncomfortable in his seat. Granted, Snapper always looked uncomfortable but he seemed like he’d rather be anywhere else at the moment. 

“I understand that last night you accompanied Lena Luthor to a charity auction at the museum.” 

Kara merely raised an eyebrow, curious as to why Snapper would care. 

“The two of you were photographed and since dirt on the Luthors sell magazines some of the more gossip driven websites have posted the photos and written articles speculating on the nature of the relationship between you too.” Snapper turned his computer screen to show Kara a gossip website with photos of Kara and Lena at last night’s event. 

The pictures weren’t of them doing anything explicitly inappropriate, however, one photographer had captured Lena’s expression when Kara arrived. Others showed the two of them standing far too close together and Kara had her hand resting protectively on the small of Lena’s back. The headline, ‘Lena Luthor’s new galpal?’ made Kara roll her eyes. 

“I don’t care what the nature of the relationship is but I can’t have one of my reporters caught up in tabloid gossip. Create some distance, let this blow over.”

Kara had no words for Snapper so she merely nodded and turned to leave. 

“I’m not done with you, Danvers. I want 500 words about the auction last night. This time try to have less than five spelling mistakes.” 

“Would it kill you to ask nicely?” Kara’s words were flat – tired of Snapper’s tone which was always harsh. 

Snapper fixed her with a stare over the top of his glasses. The silence grew between them until he grumbled “Please.”

Pissed off yet satisfied that she had won the stare down with Snapper, Kara turned once again and left. 

Kara worked at her desk for the rest of the morning – typing up Snapper’s piece about the auction. The whole time Snapper’s words about staying away from Lena were rolling around in her head. As soon as the clock hit noon Kara grabbed her coat and bolted from the office. She needed to vent.

_**12:05 – L-Corp** _

Kara flew to the L-Corp headquarters, only pausing to change in and out of her Supersuit away from prying eyes. It would have been much more convenient if she could have landed on the balcony as she did as Supergirl but she wanted to vent as Kara so she was stuck riding the elevator up to the top floor. 

Lena’s secretary was on her lunch break so Kara let herself into Lena’s office.

Lena was intently focused on her computer screen as she typed and only noticed that Kara had entered the office when she heard the door click shut.

“Kara,”

“Have you seen the gossip sites today?”

Peeved at Kara barging into her office and lack of greeting her response was curt. “No. I tend to have more important things to do with my time than to browse the tabloids.”

Kara pulled up one of the articles on her phone and showed it to Lena. Lena briefly skimmed the article and handed the phone back to Kara. “It’s inconsequential. Gossip and speculation.” 

“Snapper doesn’t think it's inconsequential. He says I can’t see you anymore. He can’t have one of his reporters caught up in some drama.”

Lena raised an eyebrow at Kara. The reporter had complained about her boss to Lena before but something about this latest comment seemed to have Kara particularly worked up. She was pacing her office and it was quickly wearing on Lena’s nerves. She was working after all. However, Lena always wanted to be good to Kara so she decided her best course of action would be to let Kara vent for a little while to unwind. She would have to go back to CatCo for her own work soon enough anyway.

“Kara,” she grabbed her hand to stop her pacing and drew her over to the couch. Pulling them both down she levelled Kara with a concerned look. “What’s this really about?”

“He’s awful! Rude and condescending and always so demanding! What does me spending time with you really matter to him! Everyone is always trying to tell me how to live my life or to stay away from you. Snapper, Alex, my friends…I trust you. I want to be with you. No one ever respects that. They all think that they know better than me.”

Lena still had Kara’s hand in hers and she began running her thumb across the back of Kara’s hand in soothing motions. “You know how much I appreciate your trust in me. And I know that you are trying to help me convince everyone else that I’m not like the rest of my family.”

Kara stared into Lena’s green eyes and felt some of her frustration evaporate.

“I’ll earn their trust with time. L-Corp will earn their trust with time. I’m lucky to have you on my side until everyone else can be convinced.”

Kara remained silent and Lena could still tell from the tense way that she sat that the girl was still frustrated. Lena slid closer to Kara on the couch and moved her arm around her shoulders. She began lightly trailing her fingers across Kara’s shoulder in an attempt to ease her tension. Thoughts of their kiss last night raced through her mind. She didn’t know what they were to each other right now and this moment wasn’t the right time to broach the topic. So she allowed herself to act on instinct and pull Kara to her to try and comfort her friend. Where words had failed Lena’s touch seemed to work, she felt Kara relax against her. 

“I won’t let them tell me to stay away from you.” Kara’s words were determined. Having made up her mind to ignore the requests of her boss, friends and family she seemed to feel better. Underneath it she was still angry that people were seemingly always telling her what to do but having taken back control of this decision – having come directly to Lena despite Snapper’s request for her to stay away… it felt good to do what she wanted to. And Lena was welcoming and inadvertently turning her mind from her frustrations and towards how her touch felt against her skin. 

“You seem to have already ignored all of their requests,” Lena teased. 

“I couldn’t help it,” Kara shrugged. It was true. She had always been drawn to Lena ever since they first met. Today as soon as the thought of coming to see Lena had entered her mind she was sure she wouldn’t have been able to stop herself even if she wanted to. Her feet had carried her out of the office the moment she was able to leave. 

Now sitting on Lena’s couch she felt the same irresistible draw to shift closer to Lena, to touch her as she was touching Kara and to kiss her as she had last night. Just as before the moment the thought entered her mind she found herself unable alter her intended course of action. Kara shifted and brought her hand up to hold Lena’s cheek. Lena had only a brief moment to register Kara’s intentions and then Kara’s mouth was on her own rouge painted lips. 

It was slightly unexpected but Lena felt her heart flutter and she couldn’t help but lean into the kiss. She had thought about kissing Kara too many times since they had met to pass up an opportunity.

Kara felt Lena respond to the kiss and took the opportunity to seek more. Seemingly of its own accord Kara’s hand drifted to Lena’s waist and then to her knee where she began inching upwards over Lena’s fitted dress. Her other hand tangled into Lena’s hair pulling her closer for a deeper kiss.

Lena’s head was spinning. Kara’s hands were on her and her lips were soft against her own. She could feel her heart beat faster as Kara’s hand teased along her thigh. Part of her mind knew this was happening too fast, part of her mind knew that she was in her office and it was the middle of the day. A different part of her mind was incredibly turned on by the surprising fact that Kara, who she had imagined to be timid about these things, seemed to in fact know exactly what she was doing and was quickly taking charge of the situation. 

Kara could hear Lena’s heart beat increase. A soft moan escaped Lean when Kara tugged at her hair and it was like pouring gasoline on a fire. Kara wanted to hear more and making Lena moan for her was all that mattered. Her body started acting on its own accord pulling Lena easily into her lap. Kara’s hands began to explore along Lena’s body taking note of which places elicited the best response. Lena’s arms were wrapped around Kara’s neck and her hands were beginning to tangle in her hair. 

Kara knew what she was doing. She knew that she was suddenly heavily making out with and feeling up her best friend – who she had developed feelings for. She knew that those feelings were reciprocated thanks to last night’s kiss. What she didn’t know was why she was acting this way. Kara Danvers was sweet and would bite her lip distractedly gazing at Lena’s beautiful eyes only to catch herself and awkwardly try to hide her blush. Kara Danvers was a little clumsy at times around people she had crushes on and would fiddle with her glasses. Kara Danvers had day dreamed about asking Lena on a date, a romantic one, but couldn’t quite muster the nerve to risk their friendship for a chance at a date. Whoever she was right now, had no such reservations about how she felt and was unafraid to explore just how far this relationship could go, and just how much of Lena’s skin she could taste. 

“Kara,” Her name was whispered softly as her lips began to travel down Lena’s neck.

Hearing her name enticed here even more and she began to lightly bite and suck at the skin just above Lena’s collar bone.

“Kara,” Lena spoke her name more like she was trying to get her attention and tugged lightly at Kara’s hair to draw her lips back to Lena’s. Kara was already determined to test Lena and so even though she had been drawn away from kissing more of Lena’s skin she wasn’t going to ease up. Kissing Lena’s lips once again she caught her lower lip between her teeth and tugged. It turned out to provoke an incredible response from Lena. Kara was seconds from testing her luck and slipping her hand under the hem of Lena’s dress when the phone rang. The shrill sound startled both of them. Lena quickly came to her senses and remembered the conference call she was expecting. Kara, on the other hand, felt annoyance at the interruption. Lena untangled herself from Kara’s hold and stood.

“Kara, this call, I have to take it.”

Kara stood and stepped into Lena’s space sliding her arms around the other woman’s waist. “I don’t want you to answer it.” Kara’s tone was flirtatious but Lena sensed something underneath the light tone and she felt herself being surprisingly firmly held against Kara’s body.

Lena took a gentle approach, despite Kara’s obvious forwardness before the Kara she knew could easily have her feelings hurt if Lena sent her off too harshly after what they had just done. She didn’t want Kara feeling hurt or like Lena didn’t want her. She reached up to hold Kara’s face and spoke kindly. “Kara, I’d let you stay all day but this isn’t the time or the place. I have to take this call and I imagine you have work too.” Lena felt Kara stiffen so she placed a chaste kiss on her lips which seemed to do the trick to calm Kara once again. “We’ll make time to see each other, you and I are supposed to get lunch together tomorrow.”

Kara nodded slowly. As much as she wanted Lena right then the CEO’s words were getting through to Kara. Lena was gentle, she wasn’t telling Kara what to do and she was reminding her that they would see each other again soon. All of this seemed agreeable to Kara and she was soothed once again by Lena’s open and honest eyes.

“Alright,” She agreed. 

Lena smiled and kissed Kara again. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Kara couldn’t help but return the smile, “See you tomorrow.”

Kara left the office of her own accord, satisfied with the promise to see Lena again soon. Behind her she heard Lena dialling the phone and greeting whoever was on the other end of the line, apologizing for missing the first call.

_**8 pm – L-Corp** _

Lena had stayed late at the office, she had been down in the labs working on fine tuning the MindSafe device with a couple of engineers and lost track of time. Walking into her office she sat at her desk to shuffle a few papers out of the way and turn off her computer. It was the heavy thud of boots hitting concrete that caused Lena to turn in her chair. 

Outside on her balcony figures in full body armour were unhooking their harness from the ropes that scaled the building. Lena had only a few short seconds to try to get up and then the first few attackers were storming through the balcony door and hauling her away from the desk. 

There was eight of them, each fully dressed in body armour with their faces hidden. Leading the group was Hank Henshaw.

The two men who had hauled her away from the desk swiftly pulled her arms behind her back and cuffed her. She was firmly held in place and could only watch as two men barricaded the door while the rest of the team spread out across the office searching for any threats.

“We’re in.” Henshaw spoke into an earpiece and then began his own sweep of the room. Satisfied with their search Henshaw motioned for two of the men to cover the balcony and they turned their eyes upwards to watch the sky. The rest fanned out across the room covering the door and balcony with their guns drawn.

Lena’s glare could have melted steel yet Henshaw addressed her coolly. “Ms. Luthor, cooperate and you will not be harmed.”

“Get the hell out of my office!” She knew him. One of her mother’s goons, or perhaps more of a right hand. Either way, the last she had seen him he was trying to help Lillian to launch a missile with a virus to kill all aliens in National City. That time Lena had been able to outsmart Lillian and Henshaw, however then she had time to plan her deception. Right now she was blindsided, cuffed, and furious.

Shaking Lena still managed to fix Henshaw with her furious gaze “What do you want.”

“You are bait Ms Luthor you’re going to come with us far away. Supergirl is sure to come and save you. When she does we will be the ones to capture her and end her reign of terror on the city.”

Henshaw stepped up into her face so close that she could feel his breath as he spoke, “Do not try anything stupid.” He let the threat hang and then stepped away. “We’re ready to move.”

The men began to file out of the office, Lena was pushed up the stairs and onto the roof of her office where an unmarked helicopter had just touched down. 

Handcuffed and being shoved towards the helicopter Lena struggled against the men as she weighed her options. If she got into that helicopter she didn’t know where they would take her but it would most certainly be a well-laid trap for Supergirl. Chances of rescue would be low, so her best bet was to try and escape now. 

Drawing air into her lungs she shouted as loudly as she could. “Supergirl! Help, Superg-" Lena was swiftly punched in the stomach and a gloved hand clamped firmly over her mouth. Doubled over she tried to bite the hand silencing her but gloves kept her from injuring the hand. 

It didn’t matter – she had managed to call out and she knew from seeing Supergirl in action before and reading about her heroism in the paper that the Girl of Steel was blessed with more than her strength but also super hearing. Lena didn’t know how good her hearing was or if she was even listening but she had to try.

Henshaw who had been leading the group rounded on her ready to shut her up himself when a red caped figure suddenly came to a halt at the edge of the roof hovering as she took in the scene. 

Supergirl’s eyes landed on Lena, cuffed, doubled over in pain and held tightly by two men and then fixed on Henshaw and began to glow as her heat vision charged threateningly. 

“Let her go.” 

Every man but the two holding Lena trained their guns on her, waiting for the order. Henshaw drew his own gun and cocked it. “Surrender now and she won’t be hurt.”

The thought of Lena in further pain made Kara’s blood boil and red veins snaked across her skin. Lena gasped. Henshaw and his team, however, were unsurprised by the red streaks.

“You think you can beat me. Let her go now and I’ll give you a quick death instead of ripping you limb from limb.”

“We came prepared.” Henshaw fired a single bullet straight into Supergirl’s shoulder. Cocky, Kara hadn’t even moved out of the way, so used to bullets bouncing off of her. Instead, the bullet ripped into her skin and she felt white hot pain. Even from across the roof Lena could see the green glow of the kryptonite bullet that was now lodged in Supergirl’s arm. 

Supergirl dropped a few feet in altitude her powers weakened by the bullet. The rest of Henshaw’s team sprung into action and rushed her.

She was weaker but not without her powers, the first two men went down easily but the third landed a punch directly on her wounded shoulder. Pain shot through her and her temper flared. With her good arm, she grabbed the man and threw him across the roof. His body slid a few feet on impact and only stopped as it connected solidly with the low ledge lining the roof. She spun to face her next attacker and a second gunshot rang out. She stumbled as her right leg gave out from under her, blood poured from a second kryptonite bullet wound. 

Supergirl still managed to throw off the other two attackers. When she turned to the final two men holding Lena and Henshaw she was bleeding heavily and tiring fast.

Henshaw’s gun was now aimed directly at Supergirl’s House of El crest.

“One more step and I shoot.”

Kara had no inhibitions left. Rage and red Kryptonite fuel her recklessness as she fired her heat vision at Henshaw and dropped to the floor to avoid the third bullet he fired. The shot sailed over Supergirl’s head and her heat vision threw him backwards onto the pavement. Supergirl quickly turned her vision to the men holding Lena and scorched each of them. They quickly let go of her to instead hold their burning flesh screaming. Supergirl quickly walked over to each of them and with a swift blow to their heads rendered each man unconscious. 

Finally, she rounded on Henshaw who lay dazed, his cyborg components melted from her heat vision. 

She stared down at him and felt her rage build. Distantly she became aware of a second helicopter approaching. Straining to see she x-rayed the distant helicopter and saw more of Lillian’s men fully armed and on the way. 

She needed to leave. Too wounded to fight anymore she had to get herself and Lena somewhere safe. 

She limped to Lena who was struggling to free herself from her cuffs, Supergirl swiftly broke them and lifted Lena into her arms in a bridal carry. 

“We need to get somewhere safe.”

“I have a second apartment, on the outskirts of town, no one else knows about it.”

It would have to do, Kara couldn’t fly much further than across town in her current state. “Which way?”

Lena nodded to the west and Kara launched into the sky, thankfully flying away from the approaching helicopter.

Soon they were touching down on a balcony of a smaller apartment on the far side of town. The balcony door was locked from the inside so Supergirl wretched it open breaking the lock. She stumbled inside and collapsed against the wall. Blood streamed from her wounds and her vision was blurring at the edges. She was vaguely aware of Lena lifting her arm around her shoulders and supporting her, guiding her onto a couch. 

Kara fell onto it, her limbs felt heavy and her words slurred. “Call my sister… I need Alex.”

The last thing Kara saw before she blacked out was Lena’s concerned face shifting from confusion to shock as the realization of who Supergirl – Kara, meant.


	4. Day 4

__**Day 4**  
Lena’s Second Apartment – 5 a.m.  


Lena came to her senses slowly. The first thing she was aware of was that she was curled up in a large armchair in the living room of her other apartment. She has a blanket wrapped around her and she can feel the stiffness in her joints from sleeping with her legs tucked under her. As she stirred she became aware that she was no longer dressed in her work clothes. Jeans were cutting off the circulation in her legs. She remembered excusing herself to change out of her work clothes amidst the chaos last night.

Last night. It came back to her in a rush and she twisted in her chair to look around the room. The first thing her eyes landed on was the red and blue figure that lay unconscious on her couch. The Girl of Steel looked like she had been properly beaten up. Her lip was cut open and her knuckles were bruised and bloody. The left arm of her suit had been cut away to access the bullet wound in her arm, and her boots were on the floor. 

Equipment lay around the couch, a scalpel, tweezers, and surgical gloves lay on a tray. A powerful looking yellow lamp was pointed on Kara’s exposed arm. There was still faint signs of the bullet wound and surgery to remove the fragments of kryptonite but it looked like the damage had been inflicted a week ago instead of mere hours earlier. 

Lena untangled herself from the blanket and stood to check the bullet wound on Kara’s leg. This one looked worse, fresher than the one on her arm.

“She’ll be ok.” A voice called. Lena turned to find Alex Danvers sitting at the island in her kitchen, watching her. “Once her arm is doing better I’ll move the lamp to help heal her leg. Plus the sun is rising soon and that will help her more than our portable sun lamp.”

The woman looked tired. Her hands wrapped around a mug of coffee.

“I helped myself to your cupboards. I hope you don’t mind. There’s more in the pot if you want some.”

Shaking her head Lena moved towards to coffee pot to pour herself a mug. “No, I don’t mind.”

Unsure of what to say next Lena sat at the kitchen island with Alex and took a sip of her coffee. 

“You know who she is.” It was a statement, not a question but Lena nodded anyway. Alex looked away from her and seemed to be thinking hard about what to say next. “She couldn’t make my job a little easier could she? Every person she tells it becomes that much harder for me to protect her, to protect her friends and our family.”

Lena can understand Alex’s frustration to an extent. She can see the care and concern for Kara written all over her face. “She didn’t exactly choose to tell me. She was bleeding out and barely conscious.”

Alex’s lips form a frown but she concedes. “You’re right. But it doesn’t make it any easier. We should have been there sooner, we were tracking her but she’s been hiding from us.”

Lena doesn’t know what to make of this information. Why would Kara hide from her sister? From her sister’s organization? She didn’t know much about Alex, about the team of people that had burst into her apartment last night to save Kara’s life. As far as she could tell they were top secret, highly organized and knew a lot about aliens. Plus they were obviously familiar with National City’s Kryptonian hero. 

“Why was she hiding from you?” 

Alex studies her face for a long time. She looks to Kara sleeping on the couch and back to Lena before responding. Lena can tell she’s weighing her options in her head.

“Red Kryptonite.” Alex finally concedes. “She’s been infected. Unlike Green Kryptonite it doesn’t weaken her, instead, it makes her impulsive, erodes her moral compass. It takes away her compassion her restraint… it makes her the worst version of herself.” Alex’s voice is sad and she’s rubbing at her arm like it hurts. She catches herself and continues. “She’s encountered it once before, it was an accident. She did some damage, lost control but we were able to …” she paused considering her words “...administer an antidote. As far as we can tell she was infected again a few days ago. We don’t know if she’s aware of it or remembers the last time this happened. My guess is that she subconsciously remembers some of it and the Red Kryptonite is making her not want to be cured again.” 

“That’s why she was hiding from you?” 

Alex nods.

“And the gun?” Lena had stood at the edge of the room watching last night as Alex’s team worked to extract the kryptonite bullets from Kara. Before they got to work one of Alex’s troop holding a big gun with some red substance in its chamber had asked if they should, “Hit her with the antidote” before beginning the procedure. Alex had forbidden it saying that Kara was too weak to survive a hit and that no matter what she was not to be shot until she had time to heal. This may or may not have been a mistake. Part way through extracting the bullet from her leg Kara had woken up. Her frantic eyes had landed on the gun and she had melted half of it with her heat vision before anyone could push her back down. Then she started screaming at Alex’s team that they had to leave or she would melt them too. Alex had ordered her team away for their safety – claiming that she would finish the operation herself. “Only you and Lena. No one else. Do you understand? No one else.” Kara had told her. Alex promised and began extracting the bullet again and Kara lost consciousness.

“It’s the easiest way for us to administer the antidote. It doesn’t do any lasting damage but it took a lot out of her last time. She must have remembered it and that’s why she melted it and sent everyone away.”

“What do we do now?”

“My team will work on repairing the Anti-Red K gun. Until it’s functional I’ll have to find a way to keep her from hurting anyone or herself.”

“I can help.” Lena had spent plenty of time with Kara the last few days, she was certain she could help Alex to talk to Kara, calm her down when she woke up. 

“Absolutely not.” Alex’s tone was firm. “She’s dangerous like this.”

“I’ve been with her for the last several days, she’s not dangerous to me. Red Kryptonite just makes her lose her inhibitions right? That doesn’t mean that Kara would want to hurt us.”

Alex shakes her head. “You don’t understand. She’s not just impulsive she has NO self-control. She’s fine if everything is going how she wants it to. But the moment she’s challenged, the moment she's confronted with an insecurity, or feels that someone is mistreating her…” Alex rolls up the sleeve of the arm she had been rubbing earlier to show Lena a faint scar. “I love Kara, she’s my sister. But the last time this happened she felt threatened by me, and the Red Kryptonite caused her to become violent. She broke my arm.” Alex pauses to let the information sink in. Lena looked horrified. “Kara and I don’t have a perfect relationship but we love each other, and she would never hurt me. The Red Kryptonite made her capable of hurting me, she almost killed me. That’s why you can’t be here. I know you’re friends but she could hurt you too.”

“I want to help, I can still help.” Even though she felt disturbed that Kara had been so sick she had hurt her sister Lena pushes past her fear. This is Kara, and Lena can’t stand by while her friend, and the city are in danger. 

Angry that Lena wouldn’t listen to her Alex decides she could use Lena’s help for a few minutes. Just to keep an eye on Kara while she contacts the DEO and J’onn to try and come up with a plan. After that she’ll figure out a way to send Lena away where she’ll be safe. 

“You can watch Kara for me, I need to speak with my team.”

Lena nods and Alex picks up her phone and steps into the hall and into the stairwell. Once she thinks she’s far enough to be safe from Kara’s super hearing in case she wakes up she calls J’onn. 

Lena listens as Alex’s footsteps fade down the hallway and then looks back to Kara on her couch. Still tired Lena moves to sit back in her armchair and ponders the information Alex had given her. If Kara only became dangerous when she felt that she was being pushed or threatened it explained their interactions over the last few days. Lena had never made Kara feel like she didn’t have a choice, when she pulled her away from defending her at the auction, or when Lena suggested that Kara leave after they had kissed, it was never a demand. Her head was spinning with ideas of how to convince Kara to allow herself to be treated when she heard her start groaning. Lena cast a glance to the door but Alex hadn’t returned yet.

Carefully Lena moved to kneel by the couch. Kara was waking up. 

“Kara?”

Kara only groaned again and shifted wincing at the pain of moving. After a moment her eyes opened. “Lena...”

“Hey,” she’s more relieved that Kara was ok than she had expected and it showed in her voice. She brushed Kara's blonde hair away from her face. Alex said she would be ok but seeing Kara wake up was a relief. “You’re hurt pretty badly and you’ve been sleeping. Your sister is here, she’s been treating you.”

“Alex” The word was half a groan, and then Alex was walking back into the room. 

She paused when she noticed that Kara was awake and then approached her like she might start shooting her heat vision at any second. “How do you feel?”

Kara paused taking stock of her body. “Hurts.”

Alex managed a small smile. That answer sounded like her Kara, even if she was still infected. “I know kiddo. I had to pull a couple of Kryptonite bullets out of you. You’ll heal just fine. We’ve been using the lamp for now but daylight or the sunbed back at the DEO will help you heal faster.”

Alex noticed Lena twitch her head to the side at the mention of the DEO. Nothing gets past that girl Alex thought. It didn’t matter right now though. 

Kara was becoming more lucid by the minute and her eyes clearer. “Lena, are you hurt?”

“Nothing serious.” Kara didn’t buy it and her eyes landed on the bruises from the handcuffs on Lena’s wrists.

“They hurt you.” Kara was beginning to sit up.

“I’ll be ok. Kara, you saved me.” 

Kara’s whole body went rigid and her eyes bore into Lena. “You called me Kara.”

Lena looked over her shoulder to Alex who reluctantly nodded for her to explain.

“When you were hurt you told me you needed your sister to help you, that you needed Alex. It was enough for me to finally see you behind the cape and boots. For me to see Kara and not Supergirl.”

Kara nodded. “I hated lying to you. No one else would trust you, they didn’t see you like I did. Even after you helped us against your mother when she tried to launch the Medusa virus they still didn’t trust you.” Kara was glaring at Alex now as she spoke “They thought you could still be just like your family. Are you convinced now Alex? Lillian had her men try to kidnap her! They hurt her!”

“You’re right Kara. But that doesn’t mean we can bring her into this situation, it’s safer if we handle it.”

“No. Lena is already a part of this.” 

“Kara, come back with me to the DEO, we’ll finish healing you and then we can look for Cadmus.”

Kara stood, wincing slightly at the pain. “I’m not waiting for the stupid DEO to come up with a plan. I can handle this without you.” Kara’s lips curled into a sneer around the letters DEO. 

“Kara I need you to stay here!” 

Kara ignored her and pulled on her boots.

"Kara stop!"

Kara pushed past Alex and picked up Lena into her arms. “You can’t stop me.” She stepped out onto the balcony and tensed to take off.

“Kara put me down!” Kara ignored Lena’s protests. Lena had no choice but to hold on to Kara for dear life as they flew through the air. 

 

Only a few short minutes later they were landing on the balcony to Lena’s office at L-Corp. As soon as she was sure they were no longer in the air Lena pushed away from Kara.

“You can’t pick me up like that whenever you want to!”

Kara shrugged and walked into Lena’s office. “I need your help, and flying is faster and more convenient than driving.” 

Pissed off and exhausted Lena had no choice but to follow Kara inside. The office was a mess from the attack with all her things strewn across the floor. “I don’t want to be here, I’m tired I want to go home.”

“The longer we wait the further Lillian could be getting away. We need to act now!”

“At least wait until you’re healed!”

“I’m the Girl of Steel. It takes more than a couple of bullets to slow me down. All I need is some sunlight and I’ll be fine. Now, find me any security footage you have from the attack last night. Especially any cameras you have on the roof.”

Arguing with Kara wasn’t working. Lena sighed and sat down at her computer. “It will take me a few minutes.”

“Be quick about it.” Kara turned and walked back out onto the balcony.

Lena started her computer, then checking that Kara wasn’t watching her she pulled out her phone and brought up the last number she had dialled. Finding Alex Danver’s number hadn’t been too difficult. After she has realized who it was that Supergirl, Kara, was asking for she realized that one of Kara’s friends must know Alex’s number. Lena remembered that Kara was friends with the famous photo journalist James Olson who conveniently had a phone number listed publicly on the CatCo website. A quick call to James got her in touch with Alex. She typed out a text to Alex letting her know that she and Kara were at L-Corp, hoping that would help Alex to find them once the Red K gun was functional again. She then deleted the message and put her phone away.

It took only a minute to get into the security files and find the footage from the roof. Lena turned to call Kara, who had stretched herself out on the balcony trying to expose herself to the early morning light. Even with her eyes closed, she did not look like she was resting. Her face was drawn into a hard line and her whole body was tense and coiled. Likely the effects of the Red-K and their arguing. Kara seemed to sense her staring and her eyes snapped open.

“Didn’t get enough time to look at me last night?”

Lena frowned. “I found the footage.”

Kara came back in to stand beside her and Lena noticed that the cut on her lip and bruises had healed. The computer only showed one camera angle of the roof. The helicopter was in the frame and Henshaw and his men were jumping out.

“It’s the only camera I have up there.”

“Rewind the footage slowly, until the helicopter is just in the frame.”

Lena hit rewind on the screen and the men jumped back in the helicopter and backed out of the frame.

“Keep going.”

The helicopter disappeared out of the left side of the frame and then reappeared in the distance. It crawled backed out of the camera’s view until it was visible only but its lights in the distance. 

“Where is this camera located?”

Lena checked the screen. “Above the door to the stairs on the roof.” She felt a gust of air and the Kara was gone. Before she could even turn around to look for her Kara had reappeared at her side startling her.

“I checked the camera. Going by this footage we know what direction they came from, which means we know what direction to start looking.”

“Kara this is crazy! They could have circled in from another direction, or the helicopter could be from somewhere else, or once then landed they could have taken a vehicle in another direction. You need to wait! Let Alex heal you, please.”

“And wait for Lillian to try to hurt you again? No way!” 

“Kara believe me I want to see my mother stopped too but I don’t want to see you get hurt. They already shot you twice they probably have more kryptonite bullets and …” Lena trailed off her sentence. Kara’s eyes had slid past her to the screen which was now replaying the footage. In it Lena was being dragged onto the roof in handcuffs. 

In front of her red streaks illuminated Kara’s face. “Stay safe. I’ll be back for you.”

Before Lena could protest Kara had sped out of the office and leapt into the air.

Sighing Lena held her face in her hands. Was it too early to pour herself a drink? She looked at her watch and noticed it was only 7:30 am. Definitely too early for a drink. She pulled out her phone again and dialled the last number. 

“Alex? It’s Lena. I’m sorry, but Kara left to find Lillian. I couldn’t keep her here.”

“It’s alright. Are you still at L-Corp?”

“Yes”

“Then I’m going to send a couple of agents to come and get you and bring you here. For all we know Lillian may try to kidnap you again. We can protect you in the meantime.”

“Do I get to say no to this offer?” 

“Not really.”

“Alright.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not a lot of action this chapter, that comes next chapter. Hope you're all still enjoying this so far.


	5. Day 4 Pt. 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I did not mean to leave this for this long but well life happens. Anyways, here's a little update.

_**Day 4 - DEO 1pm** _

Being taken to a top-secret government facility for protection was less than glamorous. Lena was shown to a small meeting room that was sterile of any clues as to what kind of work the organization did. 

For a while Alex and the man who looked exactly like Hank Henshaw, J’onn, interviewed her on Kara’s behaviour over the last few days. They debated back and forth the severity of the exposure to Red Kryptonite, until Alex was called away to check on the Anti Red K Gun. Once she was alone Lena felt as though she could almost sleep. After the events of the night before she wanted nothing more than to go home to her own bed. And for her mother to be stopped. And maybe something to eat. When was the last time she ate? Her thoughts were interrupted as she heard voices outside the door. Alex and J’onn seemed to be arguing. They were in clear disagreement when a third voice cut over both of them. “Why don’t you just ask her?” She had heard the voice before but she couldn’t place where.

A moment later the door opened and Alex, J’onn and Winn entered the small room. Alex held a newly repaired Red K gun that glowed faintly in her hands, Winn stood off to the side. She remembered him now, the man who had helped her save her fundraiser from the gang with alien weapons.

“We’ve managed to fix the Anti Red Kryptonite Gun, which means that we need to find Kara so that we can cure her. The trouble is that based on what you’ve told us she could be just about anywhere outside the city.” 

“She’ll come back. Assuming she isn’t captured by Cadmus while she searches for Lillian she should be coming back to the city and when she does she will find me.”

“So that’s the plan? Hope she isn’t hurt on her search and use you as bait if she returns?” 

Lena can tell Alex doesn’t like the plan. She’s afraid for her sister and wants her safe. What Alex doesn’t realize is the Lena doesn’t like the plan either. Of course, she wants to stop Lillian and cure Supergirl, no cure Kara but… well, that was the root of her problem. Kara was Supergirl. And less than 24 hours ago Kara’s secret had been revealed to Lean as she lay bleeding on her couch. Lena hadn’t had a moment to process this change as she acted only to save her… her friend? Lena didn’t even know if she could call Kara that anymore. 

Kara had lied to her. Betrayed her. Played her. Underneath the adrenalin and exhaustion, Lena had no time to feel the heartbreak and rage she felt towards Kara for her deception. Nor had she allowed herself to feel the fear from her attempted kidnapping. The knowledge that her mother was still trying to play her as a pawn in her game to frame Supergirl and the alien population of National City as menaces. 

She had had enough. “Agent Danvers. If you think I like this plan any more than you do I would ask you to consider the fact that I stand before you know offering you my help. Offering my help to an organization currently keeping me here against my will, who hasn’t formally disclosed to me what the hell their purpose is, and as far as I know aided in deceiving me through someone I had trusted.” Lena drew a breath to calm down but continued to stare daggers at Alex. “I will help you, however, I can to stop my mother and return Supergirl to her normal mental state. And the best I can offer is that Supergirl said she would come back and find me. That’s the best opportunity you have at the moment. Take it or let me go now.”

Alex looked ready to argue “You-“

“Alex” Winn murmured her name, his eyes flicked between her and Lena and settled on Alex, pleading. “Think about what she’s done. She’s helped us and we need her.” 

Alex remained tense but Winn’s words got through and she stayed silent. 

J’onn nodded his agreement. “Winn keep trying to track Supergirl. Monitor for Red K and Green Kryptonite too since we know they had that as well. If we track her down we send in a unit. If she finds Lena first we’ll need to lay a trap to bring Supergirl somewhere that we can safely use the Anti-Red-K gun.” He paused considering Lena. “Lena, I want to thank you for the help you have given us. I would like to have you speak with one of our teams to organize a way to lead Supergirl to where we can cure her. If you are willing of course.”

Lena could feel her jaw clench. She forced herself to relax. She could keep her feelings on hold for a little while longer. She had to until Lillian was stopped and Kara was safe. Then she would curl up with a bottle of something strong and numb the anger and hurt in her heart.

“Yes. I will help.”

“Thank you.” J’onn nodded and summoned an agent over. A team was briefed on the situation and Lena was lead to a meeting room to strategies their trap for Supergirl. 

Lena’s Apartment – 8pm  
It’s evening by the time Lena is allowed to leave the DEO. She has a plan and signals worked out with a DEO unit to try and capture Kara and remove the Red Kryptonite’s effects from her mind. Kara is unpredictable so they decided it would be best if Lena had as little contact with the DEO as possible and as little security as they could safely manage. Alex hadn’t liked the idea but she was overruled by J’onn. 

Keep Kara from feeling threatened. Bring her to the trap, neutralize the Red K effects as quickly and as quietly as possible, then go after Lilian. This plan meant letting Lena go about her normal business as much as possible to avoid raising suspicions for Kara. 

Lena returns home to her apartment and goes straight to the fridge. She digs out some leftovers and quickly eats without tasting much of the food. She had been starving this whole time and the DEO had only offered her some protein bars that agent had in the field. Her stomach was finally not gnawing at itself but it still hurt. It was the empty pit feeling that came with betrayal. Food didn’t take away that emptiness but hard liquor could qualm the ach. Returning from the kitchen with a glass of scotch in one hand and the bottle in the other she dropped onto her couch and knocked back most of the glass in a few too-large sips. She revelled in the burn of the liquor and poured another glass sipping this one more slowly feeling the numbness the alcohol brought. 

Kara was Supergirl. Kara had lied to her and hidden from her. Kara pretended to be a human journalist who was friends with Supergirl. Kara lived another life as the cousin to the man who Lex had gone crazy trying to defeat. Kara had used her human persona to tell Lena that Supergirl liked her. Kara had kissed Lena. She was infected at the time, without inhibitions she had taken from Lena what she wanted. How far would she have gone had they not been interrupted? Would she have ever told Lena the truth of her identity had it not slipped out as she lay injured and semi-conscious on her couch? Could Lena forgive her or trust her either way?

Her thoughts spiralled. In the centre of her hurt her heart was broken. She thought she had finally found someone who trusted her and cared about her despite her last name. But Kara had turned out to be a lie and her human persona took advantage of her by playing both sides. 

No one could ever trust or love her. She was a Luthor and she could trust no one. Steeped in her pain and the strong liquor she fell asleep on her couch.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To anyone still reading, thanks :)


	6. Day 5

_**Day 5 - Lena's Apartment** _

The next day Lena wakes up groggy still on her couch. She checks her phone and sees nothing but the usual work emails have come in. She gets up and clicks on the TV to check the news and goes into the kitchen to start coffee. The news anchors report the weather and the morning news but there’s nothing about Supergirl or Cadmus. No, she thinks, there’s nothing about Kara or Cadmus. Right now it’s easier to think of her as Supergirl. Which means that while the DEO and everyone else makes their next moves in this mess Lena still has a company to run. Gone is the moment of weakness from the night before as she gets ready for the day. Everyone else might run around in a supersuit but all Lena needed was her lipstick and she could feel her own mask falling into place with every careful pass over her lips. One look at Lena Luthor in CEO mode and you knew that she had all the power in the room. She called her driver and left for L-Corp offices. The DEO had no need to hide from her so she was unsurprised to see two black SUVs tailing her to work.

The day ticked by quickly. There’s always a hundred things for her to do at L-Corp and it’s easy for her to lose herself in the work of rebuilding her company. Besides, she had a lot of catching up to do since the last few days kept her from her work. Hours pass like mere minutes and the sun fell from the sky as night settled in. Lena finally closed her computer and gathered her things to leave when a distant crash stopped her. It must have been several blocks away but still she heard it. Moments later she heard the wail of sirens. Lena sat back down and checked the news – best not to leave the office if the city was in the middle of a crisis. She had been stuck in traffic more than once thanks Supergirl getting in a fight with some other alien. Most days she honestly couldn’t understand how the city still managed to function when they had to rebuild infrastructure so often. Needless to say, construction was a very in-demand job in National City. She stared at her office TV as the news anchors finally began to break the story.

“You don’t need to worry about that.” 

Lena’s heart stopped and she whipped around to face where the words had come from. Kara stood just inside her balcony window in her Supergirl pose. 

“Don’t sneak up on me like that.”

Kara moved silently around the desk and took Lena’s hands. 

“I’m sorry,” She ducked her head to catch Lena’s eyes. “You don’t have to worry about the news. It’s just a little diversion for the DEO so I could see you.”

“How could you have gotten so close without them finding you? They’ve been doing scans for radioactivity, using satellites, searching for you every way that they can.”

“Yes, and I knew every little trick they would use to look for me. They’re smart, and their tech is good, but I’m smarter and from a far more technologically advanced civilization. Something they always seem to forget. Krypton makes Earth look downright primitive and I was the daughter of two of the planet's most brilliant minds. To think they could ever find me if I wanted to stay hidden. They’re always underestimating me.” Red veins glowed across Kara’s throat and jaw. 

I guess that’s another area to avoid. 

“Kara,” Lena need to keep her calm, “why have you come here?”

“I found them. I found Cadmus and Lillian. It’s time that Lillian faces the consequences for what she’s done and she’s hurt no one more than you.” Kara’s hand reaches up to caress her cheek but her eyes are full of steel. “It’s only fair that you’re the one who decides her fate.”

“Kara I -“ Her next words need to be careful. “I want Cadmus stopped and Lillian locked away. We have to do this the right way so that her ideology dies too and her followers turn their backs on her.”

“Which is why you’re coming with me. You’re human. You deserve to do justice on Lillian and if it’s a human to take her down instead of an alien…” 

She has a point. Except that Lena is hardly the human to sway the public’s opinion on the matter. The whole issue will be chalked up to her family’s drama. She has to choose. Allow Kara to take her or try to reason with her. See if she can talk her out of it, make her stay and contact the DEO. 

Kara cocks her head, listening in the distance. The wail of far-off sirens has lessened. “We don’t have much time left.”

“Take me with you.”

Kara nods and leads her by the hand to the balcony. Lena practically has to jog to keep up with her long purposeful strides. Outside Kara turns to face her and steps close pressing their bodies together. Her arms wrap around her body holding her close. 

“Hold on”

Lena gasps and they’re launched into the air. She didn’t even get a chance to grab her phone. 

 

It’s not too much later but it feels like hours for Lena until they touch down. Flying with Supergirl is not fun. The wind whips at her and it’s cold. There’s nothing around her other than Kara’s arms and even though she doesn’t doubt that she won’t drop her it’s still unnerving. There’s nothing for Lena to do but tuck her face closer against Kara’s neck and try not to think about how nice it would have felt if they weren’t whipping through the air hundreds of feet above the earth and if she didn’t feel betrayed by Kara. 

They land in the foothills to the mountains beyond. This is how Lena knows they’re far from the city. Kara holds her by the waist until she’s sure Lena has her feet under her again. They’re at a small bunker disguised in one of the hills. Kara opens the door and shows her in. 

“It’s one of their lookouts I found earlier. Stay here until I come back. I’m going in to clear the guards.”

Without even pausing Kara’s gone in a blur of motion leaving only a scuff mark inside the door where she had been.

Like hell I’m going to stay here.

Lena carefully combed the room for tech. Monitors were set up to detect any incoming objects. The lack of dust implied that this location had been used until recently. The half-empty coffee mug and papers knocked across the floor implied it had been used until very recently and that Supergirl hadn’t just found the lookout earlier but she had evicted its guards. Not great planning on Kara’s part in Lena’s opinion. They would likely be expecting Kara if they already noticed one of their lookouts was not reporting. 

It didn’t take Lena long to get a handle on their systems. It wasn’t anything too complicated, there was communications equipment to report to HQ as well as systems to monitor the surrounding environment. Satellite feeds, cameras, geothermal, radiation tracking, motion sensors, it was pretty thorough. 

They’ve got to have cameras on the inside too.

It only took a few minutes for Lena to hack into the system and access the cameras inside the network. There were a couple of other bunkers with guards that were of little interest as well as most of the main facility. The main facility seemed to stretch deep underground and looked like it was originally designed as a lab and storage facility. Some screens showed rooms with armour and weapons prototypes with blueprints tacked to the walls. Adjacent rooms looked like workshops. Some of these spaces had been repurposed to hold bunks with troops. The largest lab seemed to be over 3 stories tall and was the main hub of activity. Lena backtracked to the cameras starting at the only entrance to then bunker and as the flicked through the cameras leading deeper and deeper she followed the path of destruction and unconscious guards Supergirl had left in her wake. 

Along the hall to the main lab Lena found Supergirl. Lena watched her edge down the hallway. Kara turned the corner and Lena switched to the next camera just in time to see her get ambushed by two guards. Their guns fired a net laced with green. In the narrow hallway Supergirl had nowhere to run and as soon as the net was on her other guard fell on her from their hiding spot in workroom across the hall. They shackled her wrists in chains laced with the same green glow of kryptonite the net held. Lena couldn’t get sound from the video feed but she could almost hear Kara’s screams in her ears. 

Lena’s head was spinning as she watched Kara get dragged away when the sensors in her bunker started to sound their alarms. Checking the camera feed she could see armed men on the screen and by the look of them they were Lillian’s. Lena scanned the room, nowhere to hide and no guns big enough to take them all out once they came through the door. In the last few seconds before they reached the door Lena took a deep breath and calmed her nerves.

They opened the door and filled the room spreading out keeping their guns on her. 

“Don’t move!”

“Gentlemen,” Lena smiled raising her hands in surrender. “I take it you have come to take me to my Mother. Good.”

The leader narrowed his eyes at her. “Keep your hands where I can see them and no sudden moves.”

“Relax. I’m not going to fight. Take me to Lillian.”

The two guards nearest here moved forward and each took hold of one of her arms. A third checked that she had no weapons on her and then they put her in handcuffs and marched her out of the bunker and into a nearby armoured truck.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Slowly but surely I will get to the end of this thing! Thank you to everyone who comments and leaves kudos. You're what keeps me writing this fic. :)


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